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Every once in a while I see a car, whether custom or just rare, that makes me turn my head. Today was no exception. I just saw a motorhome I had to talk to the owner about.

It stated off life as a 2005 Ford Excursion. First it was professionally converted into a Limousine (10-foot stretch, 5-inch roof rise behind the driver). Apparently such limos have low resale value, and the current owner bought it at auction for just $6000. He repainted it, replaced the engine, transmission, brakes, etc. , and gutted the interior. It now has a Queen sized bed up front, twin reclining bucket seats in the rear, a small kitchenette (one burner electric range, microwave, refrigerator, sink), 32 inch TV, and still has cargo area through the back door. The only signs from the outside that it's not a limo is the Air conditioner on the roof, and the access panel for water fill and shore power. Honestly, for as little as he spent on it, I think I'd rather have this than a "normal" RV for 1-2 people traveling.

Couple that often show up in my hometown.

One is some sort of Mitsubishi-esque racer, decked out in full boy-racer gear like bucket seats, roll cage, pointless spoilers. It's also painted up in the worst, most garish luminous purple I've ever seen, but the weirdest bit is the wheels. They're canted around 20 degrees inwards, and the wheel arches are barely 2" above the tyres.

Other is some sort of typical hot-rod looking like a stretched VW Beetle, bright yellow and obviously had an engine swap. Has to be at least 4L, all the chrome fittings and exhausts but no cover at all, which I'm given to believe is actually illegal.

Saw an Audi A8 in my street yesterday. Very bright chrome instead of regular paint.

Because why restrict dazzling other drivers to the winter months using your X-Ray headlights.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Saw an Audi A8 in my street yesterday. Very bright chrome instead of regular paint.

Because why restrict dazzling other drivers to the winter months using your X-Ray headlights.

I've seen the "chrome paint" thing before. However, in this case a lot of it was actual chrome. The guy must have spent a fortune on custom chroming. It was a 1985 Cadillac Eldorado convertible. Slightly lifted for larger wheels, but not obnoxiously so like a true Donk. The interior was 100% Black leather. The funniest park was that the driver matched the car. He was a VERY dark skinned Black man with chrome teeth.

Not really a 'weird' car, but I had a quick glimpse of the 1949 Buick Roadmaster convertible used in the movie Rain Man sitting up on the overpass a couple of hours before filming the auto accident scene on I-275 just west of the CVG Airport. The end of the scene when they exited the interstate was just about two miles from where I grew up.

Some years ago I saw a bright yellow AMC Pacer.

One of the most reviled cars in history. I hadn't seen one "in the wild" since I was little. It was in perfect condition, likely on the way to a local fair featuring vintage cars.

Where I'm sure it caused a stir because there are lots of vintage Corvettes and Mustangs, but who would bother to restore a Pacer?

Years ago I saw a really sweet subtle hot rodded VW camper van; one of the early split-screen ones, gloss white around the windows and over the roof, mirror finish gloss black body, slightly lowered, with slightly flared wheel arches, just enough to make it look lean. Chrome polished metal fenders, mirrors, etc. and full wire spoked wheels with whitewall tyres. It was absolutely immaculate and whoever did the mods really understood the power of subtlety.

 Jadenim wrote:
Years ago I saw a really sweet subtle hot rodded VW camper van; one of the early split-screen ones, gloss white around the windows and over the roof, mirror finish gloss black body, slightly lowered, with slightly flared wheel arches, just enough to make it look lean. Chrome polished metal fenders, mirrors, etc. and full wire spoked wheels with whitewall tyres. It was absolutely immaculate and whoever did the mods really understood the power of subtlety.

Man, now that's the kind of car restoration that I like. Classy, non-over the top mods. Just enough to grab your attention without screaming "look at me". The whole "looks pretty stock....wait a minute" moment. They say with cars you need to either take someone where they've never been, or haven't been for a very long time. If you do it really well, you can do both at the same time.

I've been attempting that with my own project car. The outside is mostly factory body options, with just a few little tweaks that only other Monte Carlo lovers would notice. Like Rear disc brakes, or the rear end from a Grand National.

My wife is from Appalachia, and she had not encountered the concept of a low-rider pickup truck before she came to Michigan. It was an abomination to her - you either use a pickup stock or you jack it up. What's the point?!

I explained to her that in urban areas (especially in and around Detroit), the uselessness of the mod is the point.

Sort of like the guy who jacked up a 4x4 and put a Chevy Astro body on top. Off-road minivan.

A bloke who lived down the street from my childhood house had Mad Max's car. An original, Ford Falcon XB Coupe. It never moved from where it was parked on the road and always had a surfboard strapped to the roof.

This was in the UK as well, where that car was never sold.

I don't know if these are rare considering I've seen two, but pink Hummer stretch limo, one in London and one in Malaga, Spain.

And we're not counting museums, right?

In my home town I mostly see cars with weirdass prints like



It's also entirely legal in my country to display nazi slogans so we have a few cars like that. I desire to burn them.

Once, on my way home from work, I saw a Kia Soul converted to look like Ecto-1 from Ghostbusters.

I have some photos around here of an older Bugatti from the area.

I've moved close to an area where fancy sports cars and Bentleys and Rolls Royces seem to be more common than budget hatchbacks. It is very disconcerting.

There are even showrooms for these brands.

It is quite funny when they accelerate past to... sit in front of me at the next traffic lights.

Regarding dropped cars. I once got stuck behind some muppet having to drive their dropped hot hatch diagonally at about 2mph over speed bumps on a residential street. They couldn't go perpendicular without grounding.

The street was about 200m long and it took them 20 minutes to go down...

The UK is FULL of speed bumps, they are routine in residential areas and car parks. I cannot fathom why you would want such a self-inflicted driving handicap, and that is before factoring in potholes!

Let's see if the links work and sorry for the potato quality, but spotted this one four years ago, a concept truck by Luigi Colani:

There's a fella who drives around in a Crown Victoria in full County Sherriff white and green getup. Not that unusual for the Americans amongst us, but very novel for the small British village I live in.

 EagleArk wrote:
There's a fella who drives around in a Crown Victoria in full County Sherriff white and green getup. Not that unusual for the Americans amongst us, but very novel for the small British village I live in.

The Ford Crown Victoria ended production in 2011, so it is an unusual sight to see one in use by the police in the US nowadays.

 Tannhauser42 wrote:
Once, on my way home from work, I saw a Kia Soul converted to look like Ecto-1 from Ghostbusters.

In my area there's a terrible pos Chevy Impala from the early 2000s that's been given this treatment.

FWIW, I've told the wife I kinda want to buy a white Subaru Outback and do a slightly more modern take on this theme.

I've seen a DeLorean or two just driving on the highway, etc. One was in Omaha, which isn't what you'd expect, but there's money there with all the financial services companies and such. Also worked in an extremely wealthy area many years ago and would see Ferraris and other exotics on a regular basis. There was a Ferrari dealership down the street.

Oh...a dude in our neighborhood has a McLaren. He has a nice but ordinary enough house...that just happens to have an exotic supercar in the garage. Never learned what the story is there.

While not quite "weird" the kid down the block from me just bought his first car, an Audi TT. It's a vehicle I'm totally unfamiliar with. Kinda cool to see the kid that's been busting his butt the last 6 years doing odd jobs around the neighborhood get his dream car. Looks like he's doing work on it too. Talked to him a bit and he has a handful of tasteful upgrades planned. Had to show off my old Monte Carlo to inspire him